Shadrach

Squirrel, If your "380" is from the original factory guage, I'd be skeptical until it was verified... Hank, If running ROP to peak, what is the point of cocking the throttle? It seem unlikely that there will be any appreciable fuel savings at those settings. A touch of carburetor heat will increase atomization as well, but it will also rob power slightly. It probably doesn't slow you down but a tiny bit, but it probably does not benefit you much either. Seems like a lot of extra fiddling for a "zero sum game"... Have you seen numbers that suggest a benefit?

Interesting... I'd never occured to me that would make a difference. I don't even bother to prime my F in the fall and winter if the engines cold. I just crack the throttle, mixure rich and crank...fires off in 2 or 3 blades.

Not really that militant about it I plan to shoot for 45-55hrs on the newly IRAN'd ... If it goes over a few hours, no big deal.

I doubt that the CHTs have anything to do with the recent TSOH... 380 should not hurt anything, just not much in the way of margins.

As I stated earlier, No problems... I do not operate it in the rain, (although I'm not entirely sure why yet), snow or when bugs or particulate are present. Our past oil analysis has traditionally shown very low silicon (<2.5) and insolubles (<.03)... Moreover, I had the displeasure of R&Ring our engine because of a crankcase crack. Upon inspection, the internals looked very good at 11yrs and 830SMOH. We replaced anything that had signs of wear (which turned out to be exhaust valve guides and lifters) and put it back together with an OHd case. The "consensus" between myself, my partners and the owners of the engine shop was that the engine looked great, save for the crack on a "bolt boss" just aft of the generator. Let me ask you this... why would the altitude matter? The question you want to ask is...is the air my engine is breathing clean? The air does not care how high it is... It seems to be our nature as pilots to look for "rules of thumb" and they get spoken, handed down and taught as scripture... and are memorized until they become rote... Rote behavior is good for things like formulas, cockpit organization, emergency memory items, etc... I try to think of operational questions more critically. YMMV

Hiya Squirrel, What are you flying? 7500ft is prime traveling altitude in any Mooney. I would have to try very hard to hit 380df CHT at that altitude in level flight. I've no time in non-injected Mooenys (it appears as if that is what you're flying), but I've never heard any one suggest that any "enrichment ciruit" cannot compensated for with the mixture knob. In fact I think How long have you been flying this particular bird? Precision Airmotive's MSA Float Carburetor Handbook (linked below, but read-only :-( unfortunately) Section 2 c. says it all... home.comcast.net/~r123rs/Documents/Carb%20Manual.pdf

1. Mixture idle cutoff 2. Master on. 3. Throttle is set for about 1000-1100 or 1/4" (I consider 1000rpm a minimum idle speed for the Lyc 360s) 4. Cowl flaps open 5. Engage starter. 6. Engine will typically cough a few times, stay on the starter and be ready on the mixture for when the "coughs" become "power pulses" (hard to describe, but you'll know it when you see and feel it) and smoothly go full rich. 7. Once engine is running, lean mixture way back until you get a raise in RPM. I do not see how running the boost pump at idle cut-off makes a difference, but I'd like to learn why those that do feel that it does? At idle cut-off (boost pump or not) there is no pressure at the flow divider and there is no method for purging what's in the system... I think it's cross over from guys who've flown Continentals, which do have a fuel/vapor return to the tank.

So you're saying that he's not union, because it's Texas? No collective bargaining agreement? SWA can fire any pilot, mx tech or FA on the spot with no cause?

Your kidding about the "Arrow Room", I'm sure... 201, the Mooney tail is a clean design and minimizes parasitic drag. However, CG affects "induced drag". The tail is producing negative lift (pushing the tail down) against the weight of the everything "fore" of the center of lift (CL). Think of the CL as a fulcrum with the tail producing down force to compensate for the engine/prop/people etc... The closer CG is to the CL, the less downward force necessary to sustain level flight. Less force = less induced drag = more speed... AFAIK, the CG is never behind CL in a certed AC as it is inherently unstable in some respects...but that's another thread.

If they are in fact platinum, then they should perform well. I could find nothing about the construction material on the website. Iridium and platinum are both "platinoids" and have similar characteristics. Denso (auto industry) touts the fact that iridium is significantly harder and has a much higher melting point. However, it is hard to separate the performance "wheat" from the marketing "chaff". If you already have a 150% margin above what you need, another 200% is marketing noise... My old Lexus GS400 went 145,000 miles on a single set of Denso Iridium plugs and they looked OK when I changed them out for some standard Bosch plugs that my dad had lying around. Just crossed 190K and still runs like a top, so if I keep it for another 100K, I'll report back... ;-)

Jose, makes a very good point. The Ram-Air design (on the F anyway) is not the most sophisticated system. Mine was not opening completely when I first started flying this plane. Having R&Rd my lower cowl many times, I understand why. It requires patience and time to get the linkage, cable and travel just right. It's quicker with 2 people...especially if you're familiar. It's the kind of work where someone who's not flying the airplane might be inclined to say "good enough" even when it's not.

I open mine as low as 300 ft depending on conditions... If it's mayfly season, snowing, flying into a sand storm ect... leave it closed. My oil analysis has never shown an abnormalities because of anything taken in through the Ram-Air. IMHO there is little risk to your engine from airborne particulate. It's the fuel servo that is the concern...a bug or piece of foreign matter could clog one of the impact tubes in the intake. This could have a noticeable affect on the servo's fuel metering ability, depending on the severity of the obstruction... As for the J vs F Ram Air and induction system. I have read comments in the MAPA articles that suggest the same thing that Bodie has said. However, I've also read in MAPA log publications that it's best to lean to 100ROP in the climb above 3000ft and that 50ROP is a "good balance" between best power and economy...as well as other recommendations and other Mooney truisms that I think are horrible advice and untrue. So give it a shot and report back. I've never flown a J model with Ram-Air... I am skeptical that bypassing any type of "useful" air filter would not yield a noticeable increase (relatively speaking), it certainly does in my F. Moreover, the folks at Lopresti thought it useful enough to include in the design of their "Super 210 Cowl". I'm guessing that the primary reason Mooney did away with it because mfg and install was a pain in the a$$. I'm guessing that it added 2-5 hours to the build time... Do let us know how it shakes out!

I've been thinking about this Jet, and I would never dispute the superiority of fine wires. However, I do not think that your new found leaning ability was due entirely to fine wires. I suspect that if you'd installed brand new, properly gapped "massives", that you'd have seen a significant improvement as well. My bird has massives, and like yours, will go to ~100LOP. Fuel air ratios are balanced or they're not... A high power LOP combustion event is probably the most strenuous test of an ignition system, if the plugs are marginal, that's where it will show up. The fine wires plugs have a larger gap, a more consistent and exposed spark (I've also heard the plug runs a bit hotter). I'm sure almost any engine's operating range would be increased by using them, but I doubt these advantages alone took you from "roughness at peak" all the way to "roughness at 100LOP". No matter how much of the improvement they're responsible for, I am glad they're working well for you. It will be interesting to see if the more "conventional" nickel plated copper electrodes of the Tempest fine wire plugs prove to be as durable and long lasting as the iridium in the Champion fine wire electrodes...

This guy will not be fired...while obnoxious and unprofessional he did nothing that would give his employer the legal wherewithal to fire him...

I think a possible solution would be to remove the pan and pressurize the system with an external pump...

I meant "close" instead of "open" with regards to the vernatherm... Can we assume that the oil cooler has been OH'd? Does the pressure fluctuate with RPM? Has the relief valve been inspected and checked for proper function.

I think it was 300mph... but close enough!

Actually as I think about this, check everything down stream of the vernatherm... I am not a continental guy. It seem that your problem is occuring the moment it starts to open...

Did you try and cycle the prop during the pressure drop? I too have an aftermarket Prop governor. Mine is a PCU5000 it is smaller lighter and pumps at a higher volume. Mine has been great. I do not see how that is the variable. All of the simple stuff like gauges have been checked?

Thanks for the heads up guys, I have about 18hrs flt time to go until I need the solution... I will investigate all.

Can you be more specific? Were you flying the plane? Normal pressure to 160df and then a quick drop off, or a gradual drop? Was the plane started again on the ground to verify that the pressure was back to normal with cool oil?

If I'm on fire at 9800AGL -2000fpm probably aint gonna do it for me... at that point, VLE is merely a number that I will gladly watch the ASI needle sail past on it's way to VNE...

What you're describing sounds like a very aggresive turning slip in one direction, followed by a very aggressive turning slip in the other. This is a certainly a method of descending quickly, and by reversing direction you are in effect S-turning which would extend the relative distance traveled giving you more time to get down. I've never done it, but if circumstances called for i, I would...It's another tool in the shed. I'm pretty sure that it would wreak havoc on your inner ear in IMC though... ;-)

Either my POH is complete BS or there is something to the "Ram-air" function... My POH says that at 7500ft, 32df (standar day) I can make 76.2% at 2500rpm full rich (yuk) 14gph... The 75% is not a hard number. It was picked a a place in which detonation margins widen and the ability to over-heat you engine becomes more difficult...as in even a Monkey randomly twisting the mixture knob would probably not hurt anything... not that it is impossible to shorten cylinder life span at that level, it is...it just requires that you be some what dumber than a monkey... ;-)

201er, I'm sure you've landed at greater than 2000ft DA. I'm based at a lowly 702ft here in MD...current DA... 2784ft and it's only 84df... well over 3K is common this time of year...